


Road trips and weddings

by Jodym134



Series: When it feels like this [4]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Chloe is the voice of reason, F/F, Fluff, mentions of other Bellas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:20:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24165004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jodym134/pseuds/Jodym134
Summary: Family road trip to Aubrey's wedding.There's a 'like mother like daughter' moment - as usual, Chloe is the voice of reason.Just give it a read, the endings cute.
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Series: When it feels like this [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1735654
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Road trips and weddings

**Author's Note:**

> Another instalment in this generally fluffy universe. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcomed.

Beca’s not sure what she was thinking, driving all the way from their home in L.A. to Georgia for Aubrey’s wedding. The original plan had been to fly, but after a complete meltdown from Aria about leaving their dog with a stranger, Beca had given in and suggested they make a mini getaway out of it, stop off at a few places along the way and take Ralph with them since they would be staying at Beca’s fathers for a couple days once in Georgia and he would dog-sit during the ceremony and reception.

They were barely one hour into the thirty three hour journey when Beca began to feel like it was a mistake. 

‘’Mama, I’m really hungry.’’ Aria whined. 

Beca rolled her eyes. Of course, the kid who rarely ever snacked, wanted to start now. ‘’You’ve not long had breakfast munchkin.’’

The little brunette pouted heavily and crossed her arms in protest. ‘’But Mama, I am actually starving, and we didn’t give Ralph breakfast and he’s starving too.’’

‘’No buts young lady. We will stop in an hour or so to go potty and get a snack and Ralph didn’t have breakfast yet in case he got travel sick again.’’

Aria had recently developed a pretty serious scowl that could put Beca’s own to shame. That along with the pinched lips and arms folded tightly across her chest, it was identical to the multiple photos that’s Beca’s mother had sent Chloe on the sly not long after they started dating. 

The little girl glared directly into the reflection of her mothers eyes in the rear view mirror before muttering something under her breath. 

Beca looked over to Chloe as if to ask her if she was aware of what was happening in the car since she hadn’t spoken once during the mini stand off. The redhead simply looked out of the window, not wanting to look into her wife’s eyes and let her see the amusement in her own. 

‘’I need to go potty.’’ Aria declared, kicking her foot into the back of Beca’s seat

The brunette sighed, ignoring the kick to her seat. ‘’No you don’t.’’

‘’How do you know?’’ the small brunette retorted. This attitude had, on rare occasion, been a bit of an issue recently. It was like a switch had flipped and she had gone from a sweet little girl, who had just discovered the art of sarcasm as humour, into a sassy kid with the attitude of a teenage.

‘’Aria Mitchell-Beale, you had best not be sassing me and quit kicking my seat. Chloe, back me up here.’’ Beca took her eyes off the road momentarily to look in Chloe’s direction. 

‘’I’m not getting involved.’’ Chloe whispered. She always promised to back her wife up but right now she wasn’t sure who was being more petulant, Beca or their daughter. 

‘’I gotta go potty. NOW!’’ the little brunette shouted, slamming both fists into the arms of her carseat. 

‘’Aria if you don’t calm down, I will turn this car around and Mommy will catch a flight on her own for Auntie Bree’s wedding. I mean it.’’

‘’No, I will go with mom’’. Her tone was laced with a subtle smugness.

Beca couldn’t help the snort she let out, really beginning to lose her cool over the situation. ‘’You will not Aria. You will stay with me because you don’t get to do nice things if you are not being a nice little girl.’’ Her nosed flared and teeth gritted as she looked back into the mirror to see their daughters reaction.

‘’I will because I am the flower girl and Mommy is the maid of honour and you are nothing so you can go home because...’’ and she paused for effect. ‘’We..Don’t...Need...YOU!’’

There was a sudden gasp, Beca not sure if it came from herself or her wife, but she barely had time to react fully before Chloe whipped her entire body around in the passenger seat and glared at their little girl.

‘’Aria, that is enough. You do not speak to your mother like that.’’ She’d never had to be this stern before, especially with Aria. And it shocked all three of them. Aria so much so that her bottom lip immediately quivered and tears sprung to her eyes. 

‘’And you...’’ The redhead pointed at her wife. ‘’You don’t continue petty arguments with five year olds. Now, when we pull in, you will both go potty, you will both have a snack and you will both sit in your chairs and have a nap whilst I drive, because clearly the early morning was too much for you both to deal with. Am I clear?’’

The car was filled with silence bar the sound of Ralph’s tail wagging against the back of her chair. Glancing round towards their daughter, the redhead could see the dogs head on Aria’s lap, clearly attempting to comfort her. 

/////////////////////

Several more hours into their journey, Beca had finally fallen asleep with her headphones over her ears, listening to some new mixes she had uploaded to her Ipod only yesterday. She and Chloe had chatted away for a while once Aria finally gave in to a nap whilst watching the little mermaid on the in-car DVD player. 

Aria woke shortly after Beca fell asleep, vigorously stretching her arms above her head and groaning. 

‘’Mommy...’’ she spoke softly, looking down at her hands and fiddling with her fingernails. ‘’Is Mama still mad at me?’’ Chloe doesn’t recall her daughter ever sounding so timid. 

Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, the redhead reached her arm around the seat and gave Aria’s knee a gentle squeeze of reassurance. ‘’No baby. She’s not mad. I think maybe you made her a little sad.’’

‘’Because I shouted?’’

‘’No sweetie. I think it hurt her feelings when you said we didn’t need her.’’

Aria’s nodded sadly in response before taking out her colouring book and making a start on dinosaur. Chloe had turned the radio up a little and began singing, attempting to coax her daughter into joining her. Aria had stayed quiet until Chloe had attached her mobile to the AUX cable and played some of Beca’s more calm mixes. The little girls eyes lit up, knowing the three songs in the mix word for word, knowing exactly when each one came in. By the time Beca woke, both Chloe and Aria were singing loudly and dancing as much as they could in their seats.

The rest of the day went by without any issues. They stopped for lunch, dinner and multiple restroom visits. They had even come across a large woods with a trail through it in order to take Ralph for a long walk. It was amazing how this ever growing German Shepherd was such a gentle giant. He had taken on the role of Aria’s little protector, sleeping by her bed every single night. He was amazing on his leash too, never pulling when the little girl was holding it. Their bond was incredible. 

The little family got to the pet friendly hotel around 8pm. Already passed Aria’s bedtime by half an hour, it really didn’t take the little girl long to fall asleep at all. In fact she had fallen asleep fully clothed, head rested on Ralph’s chest whilst watching television. Beca had gently scooped her up, pulled off her shoes, socks and leggings and tucked her into the single bed a few feet away from their own. Kissing their daughter softly on the forehead, Beca whispered, ‘’Goodnight baby girl’’.

Neither of the two mothers were awake much longer, both exhausted from the shared driving. They’d just about managed to have showers and Chloe taking Ralph out for a quick walk before they were collapsing into the king sized plush bed. They’d travelled for thirteen hours, but with the stops they’d made, still had around twenty one hours of travel ahead of them over the next two days. 

‘’Mama?’’ Aria whispered in the dark, startling Beca from her slumber. 

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Beca lifted her arm to tap on the bed side lamp. ‘’What’s up nugget? Have a bad dream?’’ the brunette asked, looking into Aria’s watery eyes.

Aria shook her head as her bottom lip wobbled ‘’No. I...I..I’m sorry.’’ she whispered before letting out the smallest sob. ‘’We do need you. I’m sorry Mama.’’

‘’Hey, come here. It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean it. Come on, get in and lets have a snuggle.’’ Beca lifted the corner of the comforter and scooted backwards slightly. Once Aria had hopped up onto the bed and scootched as close into Beca as physically possible, the brunettes wrapped her arms around the little girl and both fell back to sleep within minutes. 

///////////////////////

The rest of their journey was completely uneventful. They had had another stay in a hotel on the second night. It wasn’t as fancy as their first, just a simply double bed and a pull out for Aria. Not that they were complaining, dog friendly hotels were few and far between. True to Ralph’s usual temperament, he was far more chilled out than any of them. Loving all the fuss he got from strangers, immediately rolling onto his back for a tummy rub the moment anyone stroked him. And every single time, Aria would tell the story of how he was her dog and that she had got him for her birthday because being five meant she was responsible now. Her parents standing beside her in awe of confident their daughter had got since getting the dog. Eight months ago she would have hidden behind Beca or Chloe’s leg and barely spoken to anyone she didn’t know. 

Once they arrived at Beca’s dads house, the brunette finally felt like she could relax a bit more. Two and a half days of driving, albeit alternatively, had literally exhausted her. They had tried to make it as fun for Aria as they possibly could. Stopping off at certain landmarks as they drove across the country, singing at the top of their voices in the car, playing eye spy, there was a small spelling test thrown in and having colouring competitions with whichever parent wasn’t driving at the time. Luckily, there were no more strops or kick offs from anyone in the car. 

Ian Mitchell was at the door waiting before Chloe had even pulled the car up into the driveway. They’d rang him around five minutes ago to let him know they were almost there. Clearly he was just as excited to see them as they were him. It had been a while since the last visit. Although Beca and Sheila’s relationship had strengthened, it was kind of a silent agreement that visits were short, and happened on Beca’s terms. 

It wasn’t like Beca wasn’t in contact with him, they skype called once a week, they’d have a little chat before Aria usually stole the ipad, walking around the house, talking away about all the things she had done since their last call, showing him around her bedroom as if he hadn’t seen it hundreds of times. Then the devise would be passed over to Sheila for Aria to do it all over again. It was sweet really. Aria adored them both. 

Walking down the front steps he called out a quick welcome, hurrying over to help them with their bags.

‘’Hey.’’ both Beca and Chloe said at the same time. 

‘’GRANDAD!’’ Aria squealed as she launched herself at him, jumping up into his waiting arms. 

‘’Goodness me, you’ve got so tall young lady.’’ he said, ruffling Aria’s hair. 

Aria gently placed both hands on her grandfathers cheeks, pressing their foreheads together and whispered, ‘’I’m gonna be taller than Mama one day’’, getting a chuckle from all three of the adult. 

///////////////////////

‘’So, Grandad, Nana...’’ the tiny brunette said in her most serious voice, glancing between her two grandparents that she had made sit down on the couch. ‘’Ralph has his dinner at six. Then you have to take him outside to poop or...or he will do lots of farts.’’ Aria giggled to herself at the word fart, causing Beca to laugh too, which in turn received an unimpressed glare from her wife.

‘’Okay sweetheart, we got it.’’ Sheila replied.

‘’And you gotta give him lots of belly rubs because he is gonna miss me a lot. He can have three treats a day. No more than that though. And when you take him for a walk, you have to put his leash on so he doesn’t run off cuz if he gets lost I’ll be really sad.’’ With that, she handed them a piece of paper each, both with the same instructions written on them, a couple of spelling mistakes but otherwise relatively legible. 

‘’Got it.’’

Aria walked over to Ralph who was lazily slumped on his plush dog bed. ‘’Be good Ralphy.’’ She said as she leant down and placed a kiss on the top of his head and petted his soft fur before he plastered a full lick across her face. ‘’Dude, gross.’’ 

‘’She’s getting far too much like you Bec’’ Ian laughed.

‘’Right, come on nugget, lets go before we are late for Auntie Bree’s wedding.’’

///////////////////////////////////

The wedding was perfect. Aubrey and her new husband Mark had organised a relatively simple ceremony in Mark’s parents back yard. Fold out chairs, decorated with pastel pink bows all lines up perfectly. 

Aria and one of Marks nephews walked down the makeshift aisle first, gently scattering flower petals on their way. Catching Beca’s eye, she smiled widely as she continued her little journey. She looked absolutely adorable in her little white dress with a pastel pink sash around her waist. 

Next came the bridesmaids, two of Aubrey’s cousins and her now sister in law. Their dresses the exact colour of Aria’s sash. Chloe, as the maid of honour, had a slightly different dress and hair in a different up-do. Beca who hadn’t seen her in the dress before the day, could barely keep her tongue in her mouth at the sight. ‘’You’re drooling Mitchell.’’ Stacie whispered in her ear. Beca bit her lip before reply, ‘’Not apologising, my wife is hot.’’

Aubrey walked down the aisle with her father, arms linked together. She looked happy, the happiest Beca had ever seen her. The brunette had jokingly made a bet with her wife that Aubrey would stress puking all morning, but apparently she had been wrong. Beca smiled to herself, she was super happy for her friend. 

Later that afternoon, chairs were cleared, making way for tables to be set up. There wasn’t a strict seating plan - which surprised Beca due to Aubrey’s tendency to be a bit of a control freak – but as usual, at any event the Bella’s attended, they all congregated around one large table. Gone were days though that their meetings revolved around an absurd amount of alcohol. Life had got more serious for most of them now. Stacie had a son now, a one year old. Amy was six months pregnant and had a three year old daughter, and Flo had a tiny little eleven week old son. 

Aria was obsessed with Flo’s baby. From the moment she set eyes on Jamie, she barely left his side. She had helped feed him his bottle, had gone inside to ‘help’ change his diaper and stroked his head and tiny fists softly when he stirred. Totally unfussed with the games and activities Aubrey had had set up for all the kids, her entire afternoon was spent cooing over the baby. 

‘’Aria would have been the best big sister.’’ Chloe spoke with a sad lilt to her voice. 

A small lump formed in the brunettes throat as she nodded in recognition, taking in the sight in front of them. ‘’Yeah she would have.’’ before thinking about it she added, ‘’She still could be you know.’’

Chloe’s eyebrows knit together as she slowly moved to face her wife. ‘’Bec.’’ she sighed. ‘’We nearly lost you as well as Aiden. There’s no way I’m allowing you to potentially put yourself in that situation again.’’ There was a tear in the redheads eye at the thought. 

‘’No, babe. I’m not saying that. Lets….we could umm, we could adopt.’’ Beca doesn’t know why she is nervous about suggesting it. She and Chloe had always said they wanted more than one child before losing their son just over a year ago. They’d never forget him, and it wouldn’t replace him, but Beca knew that they could love another child.

‘’Okay.’’ 

‘’Really?’’

Chloe simply nodded before leaning forward and capturing her wife in a searing kiss.


End file.
